Fever Dream
by FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom
Summary: Ed gets sick after a botched mission. Roy and Riza struggle to take care of the stubborn pipsqueak while Alphonse is away...oh, also Ed's nightmares are leaking into the real world and most people can't really handle it. Oh well. [Parental Roy and Riza to Ed and Al. Royai. T for Bad Words]
1. Chapter 1

"Can't wait to see the look of Mustang's face when I bring this guy in for arrest." Ed said with a malicious smirk.

The targeted man was an former state alchemist. Apparently he had some crackpot theory on how the Amestrian Military was attempting to destroy the world or something. Whatever it was, a warrant was placed on his head.

And that morning, Roy Mustang had stated quite clearly 'FullMetal, don't go after this guy. He's more than you can handle'.

So, of course, Edward ignored the Colonel and tracked the outlaw down.

Ed crept silently along the shadow the wall cast on the ground. The winter sun was already setting and dark shadows were slick with slush. Despite the aches in the ports of his automail, Edward managed to keep his mouth shut. He peered around a corner, golden eyes darting about. They quickly rested on the silhouette of a broad-shouldered man hunched over something.

Ed cracked his neck and sprinted towards the guy, clapping his hands and drawing his right arm out into a blade.

The goal wasn't to kill him. It never was. Instead, the aim was to incapacitate the man so Ed could drag him over to the authorities.

But just as he was within arm's reach, the man turned around. Eyes wide and surprised. Startled, the ex-state alchemist grabbed the blond by the arm, slamming him down in an arch onto the cold hard ground.

Ed bit back a scream as his ears rung. Scrambling, he managed to get to his hands and knees when everything began to glow an eerie blue. His golden eyes grew wide, staring down at where his hand were now immobilized, and slowly, slowly upward at where his target had one gloved hand on the circle Ed was trapped in.

"Perhaps you'd be the best way to take it all down…" He hummed to himself.

"What the HELL are you talking about!?" Ed spat, struggling to move to no avail "Lemme GO!"

The man sighed "My apologies, child. You clearly have no knowledge of the destruction this wretched government has in store. But….but you…." A grin ripped across the man's face, corners twisted upwards into the slightest wrinkle under his eyes. His bright blue eyes began to shine, reflecting the light of the transmutation circle. "You can help save this country. Won't that be magnificent? Won't that be grand? You, child, who knows so little….shall be the salvation the people need."

"And you're insane, got it!" Ed snapped, throwing all his weight back in an attempt to dislodge his hands. Still, they stuck. And the light grew brighter and brighter. And the blue began to sliver away, being eaten up by a dark and mist-like purple. Ed's ears began to ring again, and as the purple became more apparent the ringing grew louder and his vision began to haze over gray. While the world turned monochrome and sounded like a dying parakeet, one sound persisted over it all.

The man's psychotic laughter.

"You'll save them all, child. You'll save them all. The pure mind and thoughts of a child….that's what this world needs to be…"

"Pure?" Ed spat "The hell you talkin' 'bout 'pure'!?"

But the man didn't listen. And soon, Ed felt like his body was made of lead and his mind filled with cotton. He collapsed onto the ground, struggling for breath. Panting, he managed to slap one hand onto the ground. He trembled in tremors, pushing against the cold ground to gain nothing.

This whole process was maybe five minutes, but it dragged on, feeling like hours upon hours.

And it all ended so quickly.

 _BANG!_

The man fell, dead.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I'll admit I don't have much of this planned. But I wanted to start a new FMA fanfic and this scene seemed kind of cool, so there ya go.**

 **Leave a review, if you'd like.**


	2. Chapter 2

His yellow eyes were wide, locked onto the now limp body that collapsed onto the frozen ground. The purple mist dissipated, although the gray that hazed his vision was still present. Now frozen in disgust and dismay, he stared at the corpse that was not even a yard in front of him.

"Edward?" The voice of the shooter said his voice so gently, as if its owner hadn't just killed a man a moment before. Ed tore his gaze away from the corpse and looked up at Riza. She smiled a bit at getting a response, putting a hand on his shoulder "Do you feel okay?"

Ed nodded, only to be hit with a wave of nausea that felt like a punch in the gut. He slapped his flesh hand over his mouth, fighting to not vomit. Evidently, he failed, as he twisted away from the Lieutenant and puked all over the ground.

Riza gently pulled Ed's bangs over his face. And when Ed was done emptying his stomach, he was greeted by a not-so-happy voice.

"FullMetal, what the hell did I tell you?"

Ed snorted, rolling his eyes. He staggered to his feet, pushing Riza away when she leaned in to offer support. He put his hands on his hips looking his superior in the eye.

"Well, I caught him." Ed said smugly.

"He almost killed you." Roy retorted immediately. Ed's ego popped like a balloon, but he hid it quickly, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking his nose up in the air.

"I could've handled it." Ed said. Roy sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever you say FullMetal." As he spoke, the Colonel turned to give orders to Havoc, whom Edward had just noticed was there. Ed stubbornly refused to look at the body, staring straight ahead when a hand clapped onto his shoulder.

"Heya Ed! Good job finding the perp!" Hughes said loudly, leaning ever-so-slightly on Edward. The slight change of weight completely threw Ed off balance, sending him stumbling to the side. He didn't fall to the ground, however, as he was gently both pushed and pulled back to his feet. "Yeesh! Sorry, kid." Hughes said with a sheepish grin.

"Edward, are you sure you're alright?" Riza said on the other side of him.

"I'm FINE!" Ed spat, pushing them both away. His yelling attracted the attention of Mustang, who strolled his way over with no care in the world.

"Well he DID just almost get transmuted." he pointed out the obvious. Riza nodded instantly.

"True, Sir. Alright Edward, I'll take you the hospital. Come along."

"I don't NEED to go to the stinkin' hospita- urg…." Ed was cut off by another punch of nausea, stumbling again to his side where Riza was waiting to support him. Ed swallowed down some more vomit then hung his head in defeat "Fine I'll go to the stinkin' hospital…."

Riza nodded, smiling fondly. Her gaze then turned to Roy. "I trust you can handle this without me?" she said.

"You offend me." Roy pouted, crossing his arms over his chest "Yes, Lieutenant. We can take the rest of this ourselves."

Riza nodded "Alright Sir." she turned back to the boy "Let's go, Edward."

"Fine…." Ed said in a slur, leaning more of his weight on her. Riza grunted a bit, caught off guard by the extra weight, but said nothing. She gently guided him to a nearby car and loaded him in. "'M sure I'm fine, Lieutenant….Just…..a…..bit tired…" He yawned near the end of his sentence, and after the yawn he quickly fell asleep. Riza frowned, taking a quick moment or two to check his pulse and breathing just to make sure he was still alive. Upon verifying he wasn't in any immediate threat of dying, she stepped on the gas pedal and they were on there way.

Soon after, Ed was checked in, the situation explained, and the medical staff did their job.

The diagnosis: Ed had a cold.

"That's _it?"_ Roy said with a slight snort "All those theatrics for a _cold?"_

"Well, his automail does play a hinderance on his immune system. So it's not impossible for him to get very sick very fast." Riza explained, reiterating what the Doctor had told her earlier. "They couldn't find anything else wrong with him, so that's really the only explanation."

Roy sighed, rubbing his face "Damn kid."

"Did he scare you, sir?" Riza said with a slight smile and tilt of her head. Roy immediately snapped back

"Of course not!"

Riza allowed herself a short chuckle "Of course, sir."

"Whatever." Roy mumbled. He sighed again, a look of annoyance settling over his features "...Alphonse is still out of town, isn't he?"

Riza nodded "I believe so."

"Well shit, I guess the kid's gonna have to stay in the hospital. Oh well-"

"He is definitely _not_ staying in the hospital." A Doctor who's nametag read 'Lynn' interrupted Mustang, crossing her arms over her chest after walking into the room. "He has a cold, not a terminal illness. There's no reason for him to be taking up space here."

"Well his brother's not in town and there's no one else there to take care of him right now." Roy said slowly, as if explaining to a little kid "So he's going to stay in the hospital until his brother comes home."

"No. No he is not." Lynn said even slower, accenting each word for the Colonel.

"Okay, both of you stop." Riza sighed. "I'll take care of him until Alphonse comes back. So that solves that problem."

"Great." Lynn chirped, her tone shifting drastically "So if you'd excuse me, I got other patients to attend to." she turned on heel, trotting out of the room and into the hall.

Roy snorted "Nice lady." He shook his head, shifting his gaze to his Lieutenant "Are you sure you can handle him? You know how Ed can get."

Riza gave a curt nod "It's just until Alphonse gets back. I think I can hold out until then."

"You're the bravest soldier I have, Lieutenant."

She gave a salute "Thank you, sir."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **And next chapter is when things start to get interesting. ;)**


End file.
